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Granite quarries in deep trouble
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Granite is big business, yes, but quarries on the outskirts of Kochi are getting deeper and deeper, even as the workers and owners realise that they will not last forever. SUNIL NALIYATH on the bleak future of those men and women who live by granite.
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ONCE A goldmine that ensured prosperity for all those involved with it, the granite quarries at Mamala-Sasthamugal area in the suburbs of Kochi, are struggling to survive. A number of reasons can be attributed to the fall of these quarries, including the various decrees clamped on them over the last few years.
The area ranging from Mamala to Sasthamugal has more than 65 quarries, of which more than half of them are defunct. The quarries that are currently ticking are also on the verge of collapse as the authorities point out a number of mining and meteorological reasons. Things are getting tougher for both the quarry owners and workers alike and they cry in unison that it's time the powers that be viewed this `industry' a bit more compassionately. It's an accepted fact that many of the quarries are very deep.
"Safety of the workers is not the last thing that we care about," states Reji, general secretary of the Mamala Quarry Owners Association, himself a second generation quarry owner. An accident insurance cover of Rs 50,000 is extended to each and every worker, irrespective of his or her cadre. Half of the premium for the insurance cover is realised from the workers.
Currently the wages for male workers is Rs 120 and for female workers, it' s Rs 90 per day. But the wages are always a bit high for jack-hammer operators and granite breakers. They are usually paid between Rs 150 and Rs 200. They form an integral part of granite quarrying. Wages are settled weekly. The workers have to sweat it out from 8 am to 5 pm every day. Pension and minimum bonus are the other infringement benefits for the workers but both remain aptly inadequate in these days of escalated cost of living and medical expenses.
"Though it's not a uniform practice, some quarry owners even provide for the running expenses of their workers especially when they report sick," adds E.V.Thankappan, leader of the trade union affiliated to CITU. Thankappan, who himself was a worker in his early days, says that the quarries have lost their charm and today no quarry of this area is in a position to offer the worker 6 days of continuous work.
At one point of time Mamala belt used to be a place of hectic activity throughout the year. But today both the quarry owners and the workers are in dire straits, as quarrying is carried out only for a few months. There is severe competition among quarries located, apart from this belt, in the areas like Thiruvaniyoor, Maneed, Angamali and Kakkanad.
The entire Mamala area, spanning six square kilometres, has thousands of families connected either directly or indirectly to this trade. More than a thousand workers are currently employed in these quarries. Certain facts and figures will mirror the role played by these quarries in the socio economic fabric of this region. The Mamala belt alone has not less that 28 tea shops catering to the quarry workers. More than 100 trucks operate from here every day, each making a number of trips transporting the granite from the quarries to the sites and back. The area houses four metal crushers and at least 25 families earn a living by collecting scrap granite alone from this area. E.V.Thankappan, the trade union leader who represents the entire work, force also asserts that wages are no more sub-standard but the question of savings does not arise as it does not tally with the inflated market economy today. "Earlier each of the worker used to get work on all days of the week but today things are going from bad to worse as most of them have to be satisfied with a maximum of three to four days of work in a week," reveals Thankappan.
Binu, another youngster whose family is also into the quarry business for the past few decades, says that once these quarries used to be a place of great activity. But today it's been deglamourised to such an extent that he quite pessimistic. "These days I do not go to the quarry, I have left it to my father," he declares.
"The number of trucks plying in the area have also declined over the past few years," points out Jose Pariyath, a quarry owner-turned-rubber dealer at Mamala. Jose Pariyath once owned lorries and a granite quarry in the Sasthamugal area and came out of it as it became very difficult for him to run the show.
The lorries plying in this area are considerably old and the recent verdict that commercial vehicles more than 15 years old should be pulled out will act as the final blow on these lorry-wallahs. These days, it is a common practice for the lorry owners themselves to double up as drivers who also help in loading the granite. Granite quarries fall under the Coal Mining Act and as per its specification, granite can be mined up to a maximum depth of 20 feet from the ground level. This is in fact an absurd and an equally difficult proposition.
One demand that the quarry owners have been raising of late is that the entire area should be declared as a protected place. The quarries located here provide the best quality stuff in the whole of Ernakulam district. And business has been going on here for the past 80 years. Today some of the owners who are into this business are the second or even third generation men.
Once home to more than 2,000 workers and numerous quarries today, this belt directly employs only around 600 workers. The young generation no more look at it as a potential job market. This has been the place from where Marxist leaders like T.K Ramakrishnan and A.P.Varkey honed up their leadership skill and climbed up the ranks with the active support of the workers of these quarries. But things look bleak for them. They know no other trade. When the granite gets over, what then? The give blank looks.
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